Chalet Suisse, Bernese Oberland, Switzerland

Description

This photochrome print of a Swiss chalet in the Bernese highlands is part of “Views of Switzerland” from the catalog of the Detroit Publishing Company (1905). The chalet style of lodging was typified by its rustic, unpainted wooden architecture, which usually included a second-story balcony made of flat boards with cut-out designs. Traditionally 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 stories, chalets were designed to accommodate not only a farm family, but the family’s livestock, which were kept on the ground level. These chalets were typically surrounded by trees to protect against avalanches and other environmental threats.

Additional Subjects

Type of Item

Physical Description

1 photomechanical print : photochrom, color

Notes

The Detroit Photographic Company was launched as a photographic publishing firm in the late 1890s by Detroit businessman and publisher William A. Livingstone, Jr., and photographer and photo-publisher Edwin H. Husher. They obtained exclusive rights to use the Swiss "Photochrom" process for converting black-and-white photographs into color images and printing them by photolithography. This innovative process was applied to the mass production of color postcards, prints, and albums for sale to the American market. The firm became the Detroit Publishing Company in 1905.